~ Living aloha with family and friends.

Maui February 27 – March 1st

Tuesday—last full day—we took special care on our morning walk to soak in all-the-everything. We also continued to search in vain for the name of the artist who had a palm leaf piece at a local spa. Karen called the spa, the hotel with which the spa is associated (x2), asked at several galleries, but zippo. I’ve made many tries too and I’m still trying. If anyone has a lead, give me a call.

Our last sunset had only little color but was still beautiful and peaceful.

Wednesday we did all the usual morning stuff, packed, and said goodbye to the ocean. We also stopped to say goodbye to Melody. While sitting with her, a guest returned a coffee pot she had loaned them because theirs didn’t work, and I was struck by how many guests they help so graciously every day, all day.

Checkout was 11:00 a.m. and our flight 10:15 p.m., so LOTS of time ahead of us with only a few plans, but we thought we could punt, and we did; in retrospect though, it would have been more fun to have better plans. But we did very much enjoy lunch at Honu (we had our favorite: fish dore-style) and noticed that their paper straws had honus (turtles). If you haven’t read Karen’s blog post on the straw pollution here, take a look at: https://davidjkorte.com/2018/02/24/textures-of-hawaii-no-straws/

After lunch, we headed to Maalaea Harbor to see the Hokule’a; she was back in Hawaii after sailing for three years around the world. We’ve been interested in these voyaging canoes for a long time, ever since Richard, Karen, and I saw the Mo’okiha O Pi’ilani being built inside a hangar at Kamehameha Iki Park and Captain Tim Gilliom gave us a tour. The Hokule’a was in Maui for a couple weeks so the crew could share their sailing and navigating knowledge with the public in general, but with the keiki (kids) in particular. Kala, an apprentice navigator, was on board when we visited and there is a remarkable, short film of her here that is definitely worth checking out: https://www.gohawaii.com/hawaii-rooted/Kala-Tanaka/

Earlier in our trip Karen and I felt privileged and emotional to hear five crewmembers, captains, and navigators, speak of the history of Hokule’a and their experience as part of her 3-year World Tour. As Karen mentioned in her blog it is such a powerful tale from many perspectives, including how it was a catalyst for Hawaiians to come to know and reclaim their culture in the deepest possible ways. See Karen’s blog for more insight into the Hokule. https://davidjkorte.com/2018/02/21/textures-of-hawaii-day-8/

By early afternoon, Karen, who hadn’t had much sleep the night before, was really aching to take a nap. And I wanted to explore the beaches around Wailea. So we did both. I found this beautiful place where she could nap in the car and I could enjoy the ocean one last time.

I’d been wanting to go to Monkeypod, and we finally made it for happy hour and pupus. Great (I mean REALLY great) drinks and good food. The interior design was interesting and the bubble bar back caught my eye. We lingered as long as we decently could, and then it was time to bring this Great Hawaiian Adventure to a close.

A hui hou, Maui! We’re booked for 2019! And mahalo to everyone for coming along on this ride; Karen and I have enjoyed all your comments immensely.